Brighton Pier Group's full-year revenue remains nearly flat

The owners of Brighton’s most popular attraction, the Brighton Pier Group, reported that revenue remained flat during a “transformational year” that saw the acquisition of its namesake iconic landmark.

For the year ended 26 June, revenue remained relatively flat at £22.6m, a slight rise of 1.3% from last year.

Pre-tax profit rose 80% to £900,000 and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose about 28% to £2.3m.

Brighton Pier Group returned to profitability with an increase of basic earnings per share to 4.2p from -0.3p.

The AIM-listed company has two divisions, the Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, which owns and operates the Brighton pier, and Eclectic Bars, an operator of bars across the country.

In April, the company bought The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, by way of a reverse takeover, for £18m, which was part-funded by a share placing of £8.5m and £13m in debt financing from Barclays bank.

The company said during its first full summer of ownership the pier business has traded in line with expectations.

The Eclectic Bars business remained cash generative, contributing £2.3m to full-year EBITDA thanks to a rise in midweek student numbers, an increase in the number of student nights and improved midweek sales.

The “significant savings” were made on head office costs, as well as rebasing of costs across the company, with a 2.25% margin improvement due to the re-negotiation of Electric Bars’ principal supply contracts, which brought additional profit, together with a logistics benefit through having a single drinks supplier.

Brighton made other progress during the year as reflected in the Derby Lola Lo bar´s return to profitability, the launch of Smash, a new 'ping pong' bar in Reading, and the sale of the Sheffield and half of the Liverpool sites.

Chairman Luke Johnson, said: "This has been a transformational year for the group. The acquisition of The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, and the operational and financial improvement made within our bars division, mean the group is well positioned to drive the growth of our business.

“Our ambition is to become a leading, experience-led attractions business in the UK. I believe we now have the right group structure and experienced management team to deliver that ambition."

Shares in Brighton Pier Group were up 0.67% to 134.40p at 0819 BST.